Friday, December 11, 2009

38 Weeks

In her ninth month she's 46cm (20.7in) long and probably still covered with greasy vernix, a lubricant during birth.

Your body Even if you're not still visibly growing, you may be feeling very uncomfortable. Once your baby is engaged (see Week 37), you may even experience the peculiar sensation that she is going to fall out. She won't - if only giving birth was that easy!

The waiting gameFeeling weary, cumbersome and can't wait to meet your baby? Don't be too impatient - the vast majority of babies are born between 38 and 42 weeks of pregnancy, which means you could have her today…or not for another month! Try to enjoy the last few days of knowing she's safe inside you.

Enema, anyone? Fortunately, the start of labour is often preceded by a fairly heavy-duty bout of diarrhoea, which 'clears out' your system naturally. If not, when your baby is born, everything (and we mean everything) in the rectum comes out too. If you feel squeamish or embarrassed about this, you can opt to have an enema at the onset of labour, to ensure you 'go' before you get near the pushing stage.

Enemas used to be more or less compulsory, but if - like many women - you don't fancy having a suppository shoved up your rectum, don't worry: any stray 'waste matter' won't harm your baby and the midwives really have seen it all before. Your birth partner will probably be so caught up in the moment, he won't even notice.

Your babyShe weighs about 3.1kg (6-8lb), is about 35cm (14in) crown to rump long and 47cm (21in) long from head to toe. As she's nicely filled out, she won't be moving much at all. She's lying in a bath of 1.2 litres (2 pints) of amniotic fluid - the maximum volume at any point in your pregnancy. From now, the amount of amniotic fluid gradually reduces.

Skin-cleanThis week, your baby sheds most of the lanugo (downy hair that covers her body) and vernix caseosa (grease that protects her skin). These waste products are swallowed by your baby and stay in her bowel until birth, when they are passed out as her first bowel movement: a sticky, tar-like black mixture called meconium.